


It Was a Very Good Year

by booray (sterne)



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 2019-2020 NHL Season, Autumnal Feelings, Established Relationship, M/M, NHL Global Series - Prague, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 20:17:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sterne/pseuds/booray
Summary: “It’s just - I really want to win another one with you. It means something different, now,” he admits, eyes wide, blue.Pat and Jonny in Prague.





	It Was a Very Good Year

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to allthebros for creating this collection and for the speedy and kind beta.
> 
> Inspired by a Twitter convo this morning that really cranked up the feels & my first fic in the 1988 fandom.

“You want to get out of here for a bit?” Jonny asks.  
  
He and Pat have paused in the window-lined hall outside the room where they've just finished team lunch. He can see, looking at Pat in the bright noontime light, that he’s holding up fine under all of the travel and noise and demands from the social media team - but that he needs a quiet break. Probably, they should go straight to their rooms and nap, but Jonny wants to get some fresh air first. He always laughs off the ‘nature freak’ jokes, but he really does need the centering, calming feeling he can best get from trees, water, open skies.  
  
Pat looks at him, considering.  
  
“Yeah, okay. Not too long, though.”  
  
They head to the lobby and Jonny goes over to the concierge desk, comes back with a smile and some directions on a piece of hotel notepaper.

“Havlicek Gardens - a 5 minute walk from here,” he says, and Pat flips his snapback around so the visor’s in the front, shading his eyes.  
  
“Alright, let’s go.”

Outside, it’s sunny but crisply cool, a clear blue sky.

They fall into an easy dissection of the morning skate as they walk through the Friday afternoon streets of Prague. The sidewalks are busy, but nobody recognizes them. 

“Okay, we’re looking for - ulitsa Karla-something,” Jonny says, squinting down at the directions.

“Is that it?” Pat points to a small road that branches off half a block away.

That is it. There are houses along one side and on the other, a wooden fence and gate, which frame a forested hill - the park. As they walk up the neatly kept path, street sounds fade, muted by the gentle rustling of leaves. They’re just starting to turn toward autumn oranges and browns, and a few have found their way onto the path, scritching along as breezes find them.

There are no other people in sight (or in hearing). Just Jonny and Pat, tourists, setting aside Jonathan Toews Blackhawks Captain and Patrick Kane Blackhawks Star Winger, to take a moment for themselves. 

Jonny glances over and sees that Pat is moving a little more loosely - softer. Breathing more deeply. 

“It was really great seeing Hoss this morning,” Pat says.  “He looks good. Seems happy. I can’t believe he built a golf course,” he laughs, but the smile fades, overtaken by a pensive expression.   


“Jonny.”

Jonny raises his brows to say ‘I’m listening’.   
  


“Jonny, that’s…not so far off, for…us, being...” Pat breaks off, clearly unwilling to say the word.

_Retired,_ Jonny thinks. Retired. Done with professional hockey. Done with the team. 

Done with each other? This is not something they have discussed directly yet. Their relationship has only recently shifted into a different key - closer, a quiet source of contentment after the turbulence of their early years together. Jonny had neither expected things to become so intimate between them, nor had he been surprised by it. It's the same for Pat, he thinks. But, retirement. He’s not sure he wants to have that conversation here on a windy hillside in the middle of Prague, 5 hours before the season opener. 

“We still have a lot of hockey to play, Pat,” he starts.

“I  _ know, _ Jonny. I know. Just - I didn’t think it would change so fast - Brinksy and Stromer, now,” he trails off. 

“Are you saying you don’t like sharing the spotlight?” Jonny jokes, trying to keep things light.

“You know that’s not it,” Pat retorts. “Only, I see it more, now. The window. It’s…closing.” His voice is low, confessional. “I want to believe we have - another Cup in us. I feel like we do. Me and you, all the core guys. And we have so many great new young guys. It’s just —” 

“Yeah,” Jonny says, soft.

Pat looks down at the path, then back up at Jonny. They’ve almost reached the top of the hill.

“It’s just - I really want to win another one with  _ you. _ It means something different, now,” he admits, eyes wide, blue.

Jonny’s throat squeezes and helpless affection washes over him.

“I want that, too, bud.”

It feels like a vow.

He knows his voice sounds flat and unaffected, and that Pat can discern his depth of feeling anyway. Pat observes things that interest him more closely than most people do and never forgets any important detail.

The ground flattens out and the trees part. A wide vista of the city and the Charles River opens up before them.

Pat bumps the side of his fist against Jonny’s.

“Nice view,” he says, eyes cut slyly to the side.

Jonny rolls his eyes. Only Kaner.

Pat looks down at his giant watch.

“We gotta get back. Nap.”

“Yeah, alright,” Jonny acknowledges. “We’re gonna light ‘em up tonight,” he adds.

“Yeah, tonight,” Pat leers, and they both turn, laughing, for the short walk back.


End file.
